Thursday, August 30, 2012

Today's post will be about the 1940 US Army Blue Denim Work jacket .2 different examples here, the zinc button one being the earliest....

But first ,a little history about military denim,if i may !?....

The first blue denim uniform, was adopted as standard work clothing by the US Army in 1919.prior to this date,brown was the color of choice and the 2 pieces uniform was either made of denim or light duck fabric with no real standardisation back then. The top was a jumper,pullover style and the trousers had five patch pockets and a belted back. In addition to it,around 1933,a denim coverall was to be manufactured to be used by mechanics only .these being the forerunners of the HBT version that will appear in 1938.

After multiple complaints about the pullover shirts being unpractical to wear and the fact that they often ripped down the front ,as the cargo pockets were caught on things during chores or field maneuvers,the Army decided it was time for a change.The buttoned down blue denim jacket was adopted in 1940.As per regulation the jacket was to be worn with its collar closed ....

At the same time the blue denim trousers,as part of the uniform,were simplified,by using the same pattern as the khaki summer trousers.The blue denim "Daisy Mae" hat was still part of the uniform but was produced with white stitching instead of blue as found on earlier models[a good way to date if tag is gone]. The denim uniform was replaced in 1941 by the first HBT 2 pieces uniform ....

Even if the replacement was standardized,the denim uniforms was still issued until supplies run dry. It was mostly seen at the beginning of ww2 often worn on drill or chore duties in the US and also was issued to POW.....

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Howdy faithful followers!! been off the blog for a while now but before leaving for a well deserved break,i just wanted to share my latest find.No bragging here at all, it's just that it still amazes me that nowadays ,with the ever growing number of ebay iphone holding shoppers,informed neophytes and fortune seekers,such a find was still possible and a such a ridiculous price, that you'll think i'm lying .I know it's rough but with time on my hands this winter,or maybe the help of the "tailors" at the LEVI's store here in SF,it'll get some extra mileage .....

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Was away for a little while, so i've decided to share something special for today's post : a ww2 leather tool bag covered with trench art .Trench art has always been my favorite field when i was collecting militaria .Back then,few collectors were really interested in such an item and price tags were usually low.Nowadays you'll have to be really fast or extremely lucky when finding such a sweet piece .Well !! kudos to my good buddy Rich, who secured this great tool bag for me ,from being snatched by unscrupulous ebay pickers.without him lord knows where it would have landed .........

BTW, Mr Robertson was a US NAVY MM 1/C : 1st class machinist mate in the Aleutians during ww2 ,same rating as Steve McQueen in "sand pebbles" how cool is that !??......

Monday, August 13, 2012

Once and for all ,JFK 's sunglasses are not the wayfarers 5022. John F. Kennedy was wearing American Optical's Saratoga sunglasses, which resemble indeed Wayfarers but are not. i know B&L would like you to believe it in order to sell more pairs ,it but facts are facts .......

The JFK's Presidential Library and Museum catalogs some of his personal effects and his actual shades are still there .they were made by American Optical and not by B&L .The president had a long relationship with the iconic company dating back from WW2while serving in the Navy. AO even had reading glasses made for him ,John John and Caroline[documents above]. While it is wholly possible that JFK did wear Ray-Ban Wayfarers at some point in his life, it is far more accurate ,judging from all the pictures we know of him ,to site AO's Saratoga model in tortoise as his sunglasses of choice easily recognisable by their much slimmer stems.